Chapter 82: Baili Qing’s Judgment

Chapter 82: Baili Qing’s Judgment

Irene felt that Yu Sheng always had an endless supply of strange ideas, and that he always carried them out with great energy, no matter how outrageous they were. She had been certain of this ever since the day he took those two lotus roots out of a drawer.

Compared to “cutting a bit of flesh from an entity to taste how salty it is” and “trying to use lotus roots to build a body for a doll,” attempting to grow vegetables in a calm Other Domain space somehow felt far less absurd.

After wandering around the valley for a while, and confirming the existence of the spatial boundary from the other side of the valley, Yu Sheng’s group of three decided to return to the real world for now.

They passed through the door, and the familiar living room with its warm, bright lights came into view. Outside the window, the night remained deep. Standing in front of the living room window, Yu Sheng felt momentarily dazed.

“The sky over there is still bright,” Irene said, climbing onto the windowsill and peering outside for a while, “I almost forgot it’s still night here.”

“After that ‘Dim Angel’ left, it seems the entire valley has been in daytime,” Yu Sheng nodded, “We stayed there so long, but we never saw any change in daylight.”

“There’s no sun over there at all, so where the light comes from is a mystery,” Irene said casually as she jumped from the windowsill onto Yu Sheng, then skillfully climbed down along his leg to the floor, “So if that’s the case, it should be called the ‘Daylight Valley’ instead…”

Yu Sheng’s eye twitched twice as he watched her extremely practiced and natural climbing, “I say, aren’t you getting a bit too skilled at climbing?”

“Is, is that so?” Irene looked up without the slightest shame, “Maybe practice makes perfect?”

Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something more, but at that moment a sudden phone ringtone interrupted his train of thought.

He took out his phone and immediately saw the name Baili Qing.

“I’ll take this call,” Yu Sheng said to Irene and Hu Li beside him, then walked toward the dining area with the phone.

As soon as he answered, before he could even greet her, a calm voice came through the receiver.

“You’re back?”

The tone was so flat that Yu Sheng momentarily felt an illusion, as if the woman were sitting in the living room, watching him with her eyes.

“Uh, yes, I’m back,” Yu Sheng felt an inexplicable trace of awkwardness, “You had another… ‘incident’ on your side?”

“Yes, we’re used to it,” Baili Qing replied calmly, going straight to the point, “So, you saw Nightfall Valley? What is its current state?”

“I saw it,” Yu Sheng immediately steadied himself, then asked before continuing, “From the sound of it, it seems your side can’t grasp its situation. Doesn’t the Special Operations Bureau have technical methods to search or enter different Other Domains?”

There was a two-second silence on the other end.

“It failed,” Baili Qing said after the silence, answering directly in a way that surprised Yu Sheng, “After the ‘Hunger’ incident ended, we actually sent investigators, but they could not find Nightfall Valley.”

“Could not find it?” Yu Sheng immediately focused on the wording, “You mean not that they couldn’t enter it, but that they couldn’t locate it?”

“Yes. Literally speaking, in all of the Special Operations Bureau’s conventional detection systems, Nightfall Valley has essentially disappeared,” Baili Qing said, “So when I heard that you not only found it but could also enter that Other Domain at will, I was quite surprised.”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment. He had never actually sensed any “surprise” from that expressionless woman before, but he appreciated her honesty.

Then he responded, “Let me also explain what I found here. First, I think the place should be renamed. After that thing you call the ‘Dim Angel’ left, there has been no ‘night’ in the valley at all. That might be what it originally was.”

“Second, based on my observation, the entity, Hunger, has disappeared. Permanently.”

Yu Sheng distinctly heard a sharp intake of breath and a suppressed exclamation from the other end of the line.

He could feel her “surprise” now.

The next second, Baili Qing’s slightly urgent voice came through, “Let me confirm, did you just say ‘permanently disappeared’? Do you understand the operational rules of entities and Other Domains? No offense, I’m just asking.”

“I do. As long as the Other Domain exists, entities persist. But Hunger really is gone. And from what I observed, the nature of that valley has also changed. I don’t have your professional equipment, but broadly speaking, Nightfall Valley should probably also be considered as having disappeared. What remains there is just a calm spatial anomaly. It’s like…”

Yu Sheng paused, unsure how to describe it.

But then he heard Baili Qing’s voice.

“A hollow shell after being emptied out?”

Yu Sheng blinked. Even he had not expected such an accurate description.

He had concealed a lot: the details of the “feast” he had triggered, his connection to the valley, the changes caused by his blood, and the gradual emergence of “life” within the valley. Most of the intelligence the Special Operations Bureau had came from Li Lin and Xu Jiali’s reports. But clearly…

This Special Operations Bureau director had exceptional perception and judgment.

“Regarding this ‘hollow shell,’” Baili Qing continued, “the Special Operations Bureau would like to send personnel to conduct an on-site investigation. Of course, this requires your assistance and consent.”

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment.

He was not hostile or guarded toward the Special Operations Bureau. So far, he had not had any unpleasant interactions with them. However, people naturally tend to guard their secrets, and the valley was now closely linked to him.

Baili Qing immediately sensed his hesitation.

“You can think about it slowly. We won’t force it. If you are willing to open the door, we can also accept investigators designated by you, along with limits on personnel, time, and full supervision,” she said patiently. Although her tone remained distant and flat, she was clearly trying to express sincerity, “We only hope to collect some key data. After all, this is an unprecedented situation, the first recorded case of an Other Domain and entity being truly ‘destroyed.’ I believe you can understand its significance without me emphasizing it.”

Since she had put it that way, Yu Sheng found it difficult to refuse directly.

“Alright, I’ll think about it over the next couple of days.”

Looking at Baili Qing standing by the window while making the call, Song Cheng could not help lowering his voice and muttering to the slightly balding, somewhat overweight middle-aged man beside him, “Hey, Director Wu, was the director always this easy to talk to?”

“You’re asking me? You deal with her more often than I do,” Director Wu replied in a lower voice, “Our information center is basically invisible most of the time. We only have presence during summary meetings. Your operations department even calls us ‘server cave dwellers’…”

Song Cheng immediately laughed, “Not wrong, actually quite accurate.”

Director Wu glanced at him, then cautiously looked up at Baili Qing still on the call, “That said… this really is the first time I’ve seen the director speak so politely and patiently for so long. Is that ‘Yu Sheng’ really that important?”

“Not important. Weird,” Song Cheng shrugged, “Haven’t you guys in your department been running nonstop? Haven’t you felt it?”

“…Don’t bring it up.”

Song Cheng was about to tease him further when he suddenly felt a chill run down his back, and his entire body stiffened.

A calm, oppressive gaze had fallen on him.

“Entity Hunger has permanently disappeared.”

Just that one calm sentence from Baili Qing cleared Song Cheng’s mind like a thunderclap. All idle thoughts vanished instantly, leaving only a single stunned “what?” echoing in his mind.

He opened his mouth but could not find words.

“When your two field agents return from leave, arrange for them to have more contact with Yu Sheng,” Baili Qing continued without acknowledging his stunned reaction, “Yu Sheng has human emotions and behavioral logic. His emotional responses are genuine. We need people to establish a stable relationship of trust and goodwill with him. Your two agents performed well. Tomorrow, send someone to Wutong Road 66 to deliver registration forms. Also be careful with personnel selection. Do not send those who treat Other Domains and entities as existential threats. Choose someone more adaptable and likable.”

“Understood, Director.”

Baili Qing nodded, then shifted her gaze to the slightly balding, somewhat overweight middle-aged man beside her.

The head of the information center.

“How is your side progressing?”

“We have eliminated all possible causes. From a system standpoint, there should be no way for this kind of loophole to exist,” Director Wu quickly adjusted his posture, “We also tried deleting Yu Sheng’s file and re-registering it, but all operations are ineffective. Those entries are like they are floating above the database, not accepting any calls or modifications, and not producing any errors. Honestly… if the system doesn’t report an error, I’m about to report one myself.”

“Reporting it would be less useful than asking professors from the Academy to take a look. Their incense used to soothe system spirits and binary prayers are very effective against this kind of anomaly,” Song Cheng said from the side, “The last time, they even cured a transport vehicle’s depression in Team Four.”

“I will contact Terra and have them send personnel,” Baili Qing nodded slightly, “But if the Academy’s professors cannot solve it either, we will stop here. In any case, from today onward, do not attempt to modify any of Yu Sheng’s data in the archival system.”

“Yes, Director.”